The holidays can be the happiest and the saddest time of year for many. If you find yourself faced with clearing a relative’s estate (no matter how big or small) filled with decades or a lifetime of clutter, the holidays can be a nightmare.

Hoarded Kitchen Before Clean-Out

Hoarded Kitchen After Clean-Out

If you’re dealing decluttering the hoarded estate because of the death of your loved one, along with all the (normally) mixed emotions and memories, you’re facing an overwhelming task at just the time of year when you should be celebrating with family and friends. If the loved one is downsizing to an alternative living situation, the task can be just as daunting.

Many of our clients facing this situation had called us in a state of deep depression and anxiety, fearing that the task would be impossible with everything else they have to do for the holidays.This is perhaps the most desperate time of year to be managing the estate clearing of a hoarded home, and they badly needed someone to help them handle it.

That’s where our compassionate and friendly team at Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ comes in. Rather than adding to your burden, we take it off your shoulders so you can prepare for the holidays with minimal interruption, knowing that the estate will be cleared, cleaned, and ready for sale or living within days, not weeks.

If sale of the home is the goal, we can arrange a consultation with a company that will, at no upfront cost to you or the estate, remodel the home so that the selling price can be up to or over $100,000 more than it would otherwise bring.

Kitchen Before Remodeling

Kitchen After Remodeling

We all (I believe) face a bit of insanity during the holidays—shopping, preparing meals, making travel arrangements, decorating, etc., etc.—and handing over such a huge undertaking to a team of professionals experienced in clearing hoarded estates can clear your mind of the myriad added concerns such a task would involve.We’ve “been there, done that” hundreds of times, and every time—literally—the families have been grateful beyond their initial belief. Not only is the burden and distress taken off their shoulders, but the sight of the formerly unlivable, awful house transformed into a clear, clean, livable state gives immeasurable joy.One of the nicest things about this process, especially at this time of year, is uncovering items that are in fine shape for donation. By donating to a worthy charity (and we have a list of our favorites), you get the feeling of helping those less fortunate at this “giving” time of year, and of knowing that some of your loved one’s hoarded possessions are going to a “good home.” (You’d be surprised how many hoarders we’ve helped have found this to be the most powerful incentive to parting with their possessions.)Of course, there will be grieving and sorrow if your loved one has gone, but let this holiday be a time of remembering them with fondness, not with horror at the seemingly insurmountable task ahead by trying to do this yourself. Let Clutter & Hoarding Pros™ ease the burden and give you both the time to share memories with your friends and family and the freedom to experience the joy of having your loved ones around you.Happy holidays from all of us at Clutter & Hoarding Pros™!​